expansion

you may have noticed: us musicians tend not to be the nicest or most reliable people. maybe I'm guilty of it myself--but I am here to say this: fellow "un-signed" musicians. we must stick together. society has all kinds of stereotypes of us, some are true some of the time.
but if something good happens for you, any success, I will promise to be happy for you. none of us are in "competition:" your winning doesn't mean I'm more likely to lose, especially here on the internet.
speaking as an (early) middle-ager, I can say to you young people that, if you have the love now, you'll have it forever. there's no reason you won't just keep getting better with time.
did you write one of your best songs this year? did you play a good gig for a good crowd? then you had a good year. you "moved the ball down the field." that song will stay with you, and will inform you itself about how to sound good and write better songs in the future...that crowd at the gig will remember you. people do remember, more than we think.
so let's be nice to each other. there will always be many people out there who think "un-signed musician" equates to "loser." if you got anger, point it at them. they'll never know that quiet moment of joy when a musician comes up with a good idea, just sitting there by yourself maybe, no applauding crowds--but you know it's good, and you love it.
--alex
https://soundcloud.com/alexander-robinson111
http://www.reverbnation.com/alexanderrobinson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143243897@N03/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/109552106@N06/
https://soundcloud.com/john-alex-robinson
https://soundcloud.com/user-708404802
https://myspace.com/69saturnvulture69